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After almost a decade in development and numerous test flights, a new Zeppelin could soon be flying the friendly skies. But it's not the famous, golden-throated front man you'd expect. It's Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, a licensed Commercial Airline Pilot whose been working with Hybrid Air Vehicles. They're responsible for creating the World's Longest Aircraft at just over 300 feet long. It's part airplane, airship, helicopter, and hovercraft. Air Nostrum, a subsidiary of British Airways, has invested over $600 Million to commission 10 of these monstrosities.
The Airlander 10 which is powered by four, emission-friendly engines, has a capacity of 100 passengers, a range of 4,000 nautical miles and can remain in the air for up to five days. The first commercial flights could come as soon as 2026 in Europe. The company plans on making the Airlander fully electric by 2030. To tie this all back to Dickinson, fans will recall the epic, 18-minute track he co-wrote with Iron Maiden titled "Empire Of The Clouds". The 2015 song, ironically is about the hydrogen-filled R101 airship, which crashed on its first commercial flight in 1930. Let's all hope art doesn't imitate life in this case. For more in his involvement with the Air Ship you can watch this video from 2015 below.
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